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By DON STINE The estimated number of dead fish removed from the Shark River after a massive fish kill about one month ago has risen from 500,000 to as many as 800,000 fish. Neptune Business Administrator Vito Gadaleta said this week that revised fish kill numbers came from the Monmouth County Reclamation Center in Tinton Falls where the fish were dumped Gadaleta said that about 310 tons of fish were weighed in at the landfill facility, with fish ranging in weight from three-quarters of a pound to a pound each. “From these weight measurements it was determined that about…

By MELISSA BEVERIDGE Neptune City officials hope to extend the boardwalk at Memorial Park 520 feet and widen it 10 feet as part on an ongoing project to improve the park. Mary Sapp, Borough Administrator, addressed the Borough Council and the public about the ongoing plan to extend the boardwalk upon the completion of the bulkhead under the Community Development Block Grant. “The bulkhead and the boardwalk was originally in a two part plan,” Mayor Robert Brown said. The proposed project would extend the boardwalk 520 feet and widen it to 10 feet. The proposed boardwalk is set to…

By DON STINE Ocean Township property owners will see an average $48 increase in municipal taxes under the township’s 2014 budget, which was adopted without public comment at last week’s Township Council meeting. It was hoped that the increase could be lowered to about $41 using pension savings to lower the tax rate. “But instead we used that money for our capital improvement program to enhance our road improvement projects due to the terrible winter we had,” Chief Financial Officer Stephen Gallagher said. Gallagher said the new budget will result in a $48 overall increase for an average home…

By KATHARINA CAVINO Avon commissioners are planning to ban smoking at the beachfront. The designated beachfront area would be within 50 feet from every entrance to the boardwalk or beach. There would be a $500 penalty for any violation. Commissioner Frank Gorman said he hopes “to be smoke free on the beach by the 4th of July.” Concerns were raised about effective enforcement of the ordinance and whether it would include newer smoking products such as e-cigarettes. In response to the concerns Police Chief Terence Mahon said that it would be “easier to handle” since there will be no…

By DON STINE The constant banging of a loud pile driver in action may be annoying to some but residents in Ocean Grove are glad to hear the sound. Pilings are now being driven and work is proceeding on schedule to complete the middle section of the historic district’s boardwalk which was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. “We hope to be done between June 15 and the end of the month so we are still on track with that,” said J.P. Gradone, Chief Operating Officer for the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. “The whole boardwalk corridor will now be open…

By DON STINE Two Republican political newcomers beat out a former Interlaken mayor in this week’s GOP primary. Mindy Horowitz and John Gunn beat former Mayor Robert Wolf III to get their party’s nod to run for two, three-year terms on the Borough Council in this November’s general election. Horowitz was the high vote-getter with 169, followed by Gunn with 160 votes. Wolf received 88. Democratic incumbent Robert Napoli, who ran unopposed in his party’s primary, received 27 votes. One of the seats up for grabs in November is Napoli’s and the other is that of Jonathan Cohen, who…

By DON STINE Some Asbury Park residents are expected to attend this week’s City Council to complain about the city’s hiring practices which they said more often than not places non-residents in city jobs, shutting out qualified residents. The residents also say the city has a dismal record of screening potential employees. Duanne Small, a resident and unsuccessful City Council candidate who is a longtime advocate for hiring local residents for jobs, said that he was informed that several newly-hired employees live outside of Asbury Park. “All were hired from outside the city and I heard that one is…